Ohio Valley Politics

When West Virginia had their first caucus vote today the results were:

Mitt Romney – 41%
Mike Huckabee – 33%
John McCain – 16%

Since no candidate got the required 50% to win, a second vote was held. This time the results were:

Mike Huckabee  52%
Mitt Romney – 47%
John McCain – 1%

Apparently McCain urged his supporters to vote for Huckabee to prevent Romney from gaining the 18 delegates.

So how’s the Romney camp taking the loss? Not well…

“Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney’s campaign of conservative change.

“Governor Romney had enough respect for the Republican voters of West Virginia to make an appeal to them about the future of the party based on issues. This is why he led on today’s first ballot. Sadly, Senator McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party.”

– Beth Myers, Romney for President Campaign Manager